Fifth-wheel



(No Model.) I

D. WILOX.

FIFTH WHEEL.

No. 358,316. Patented Feb. 22, 1887.

JNTTED STATES PATTNT Cerros.

DARIUS VILCOX, CF ANSONIA, ASSIGNOR TO VVILCOX 8U HOWE, OF BIBMING` HAM, CONNECTICUT. I

FIFTH-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 358,316, dated February 22, 1887.

Application filed November 29, 1886. Serial No. 220,159. 4 (No model.) v

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DARIUs WILoox, a citiz en of the United States, and a resident of An sonia, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented an Improvementin Fifth-\Vheels, lof which the followingis a specification.

My inventionis animprovement in the means for connecting the head-block and its plate to the upper member of a yfth-wheel.

As heretofore constructedit has been customary to connect the head-block plate directly to the bolt which secures the parts together thus bringing lateral strain on the bolt, which causes the latter to become loose.

The object of my invention is to provide means for securing the parts together which will overcome the disadvantage referred to.

To this end my improvement consists in surrounding the portion of the bolt (which crosses the meeting faces of the upper member of the fifth-wheel and the head-block plate, and with which the head-block plate hereto- `fore came in contact) with a box or boss,

which may either project upward from the upper member ofthe fifth-wheel, or project downward from the head-block plate into a recess in the upper member of the fth-wheel, so as to extend across these meeting faces; or in the place of the box or boss I may substitute a thimble, occupying such a position as to extend downwardly .into the upper member of the fth-wheel and upwardly into the head-block plate, the sides of the box or thimble being made either dat or curved, as hereinafter described.

In order that my invention may be fully understood, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure I is a plan View of the upper member of a fifth -wheel `and adjacent parts to which my invention is applied.v Fig. II is a vertical longitudinal section thereof on the line II II, Fig. I. Fig. III is a transverse vertical section longitudinal of the head-block on the line III III, Figs. I and II. Fig. IV is a vertical section through the head-block, showing a thiinble substituted for the box or boss. Fig. V is an enlarged vertical section on the line VV, Fig. I, showing my preferred construction. Fig. VI is a perspective view of one end of the upper member, showing a round box or boss formed thereon. Fig. VII

is a similar view, showing anat-sided box or the reach-bars, and 5 the reach-sockets, the 65 latter being swaged to the head-block plate, as usual.

6 are the bolts, and 7 the nuts thereon, by which the head-block, the head-block plate,

and the upper member of the fifth-wheel are 73 secured together. Instead of connecting the ends of the plate 3 directly to the' bolts,I construct a box or bossaround each bolt. This box or boss may be formed in one piece with the upper member of the fifth-wheel, and ex- 7 5 tending upwardly and fitting closely, as shown at 8 in Figs. III, V, VI, and VII, into an enlarged bolt-opening in the plate, will remove all lateral strain from the bolt, or it may be formed in one piece with the head-block plate 8o and extend downwardly, as shown at 9 in Figs. III, VIII, and IX, into a recess around the bolt-opening in the upper member; or it may be in the form of a thimble, 10, extending upwardly and downwardly across the meeting faces of the upper member andplate, as shown invFigs. IV, X, and XI, into the said parts.

The boxes or bosses may be either round,

as shown in Figs. VI and VIII, or dat-sided,

as shown in Figs. VII and IX. The thimble 9o also may be either round, as shown in Fig. X, or Hat-sided, as shown in Fig. XI.

I do not limit myself to the precise forms of boxes or thimbles shown, as I may construct them of triangular, hexagonal, octagonal, or

other-non-circular form, or in elliptical, oval,

l or other curved form.

The provision of the described box or t-himi ble relieves the bolt of lateral strain, and the latter is not, as protected, liable to become 10o loose.

Having thus described my invention, the fol- Fig. X is a perspective view of a 6o v lowing is Whitt claim as new therein md deof :t plate having openings for the securngzo sire to secure by Letters Patent: bolts, an upper member of a fifth-wheel, and l. The combination, with the upper memboxes surrounding the bolts fortaking the1atber of a fifth-wheel, the head-block, the plate, eral strain of the plate of the bolts, substan- 5 and the securing-bolt, of the box or thimble tially as desciibed.

surrounding the bolt for taking the lateral DARIUS VILOOX. strain of the plate off the bolt7 substantially es Tituessesz described. JOHN C. SHELLEY,

2. The combination, with the head-block, XVM. H. VILLIAMS. 

